Scientist Plans Lab to Map Genes Swiftly and Inexpensively

J. Craig Venter, whose former company spent two years mapping human DNA, unveiled plans Wednesday to open a research center that will be capable of decoding a person’s genes in seconds.

He said he hopes the DNA sequencing, which now can take months and costs millions of dollars, will be done for about $1,000. Making it widely available could help doctors predict what diseases patients may face and treat problems before they arise.

“We’re trying to get it so that millions of people can participate in having this information change their lives,” Venter said.

The announcement marks a return to genetic research for Venter, a usually outspoken biologist who has kept a relatively low profile since he left his post as president of Celera Genomics in January.

Venter founded Celera in 1998, promising to create a chart of the human genetic structure in just a few years. It was a boast that shook the genetics community and put Celera in a tight race with federally funded researchers. Both completed the work in 2000.

Venter was ousted after the company shifted from selling genetic information to drug development. Celera said it was looking for a chief executive with drug company experience, which Venter lacked.

Celera spokesman Rob Bennett said the company doesn’t see Venter’s new plans as competition because Celera is moving away from genetic sequencing.

Venter no longer has ties to Celera, but he said his J. Craig Venter Science Foundation still has a million options of Celera stock.

The new lab will be a collaboration between three research centers supported by Venter’s foundation, including the Institute for Genomic Research, run by his wife, Claire Fraser. The Rockville institute, known as TIGR, recently sequenced the genetic structure of anthrax spores that were sent through the mail last fall.

Venter predicted that the new Rockville-based lab will conduct 40 million genetic sequences next year, making it one of the nation’s busiest. Unlike Celera, which sold access to its genetic research, Venter said the nonprofit lab would openly publish its findings.

Venter’s work will be a boost for genetics if he keeps that promise, said Larry Thompson, a spokesman for the National Human Genome Research Institute, which ran the federally funded project that competed with Celera to complete the human genetic map.

“Science isn’t about press releases, science is about doing stuff and putting it in the public sector so that the rest of the scientific community can see it,” Thompson said. “If Dr. Venter contributes in that mode, his contributions will be welcomed.”

Federal scientists already have met to discuss the prospects of working on a “thousand-dollar” genome project, but have not decided whether to pursue that goal, Thompson said.

Venter said his new lab also will house research about whether biological materials can be used as alternative fuel sources and support Venter’s interest in bioethics. He said he hopes to show genetic sequencing still is on the cutting edge.

“DNA sequencing is just at its infancy,” he said. “If we get it to where it is cost-effective to do it, it will be the main assay in all of biology.”